Milky Way at Rowans Ravine

June 13 2015

Milky Way, light pollution & a hint of aurora?

Milky Way

Nikon D7000 +Rokinon 14mm f2.8

30 secs x 11 @ iso 3200 

Stacked in Photoshop

Here is a shot of the Milky Way at Rowans Ravine Provincial Park last weekend. The problem in shooting within parks is that there will always be some sort of light pollution and our campsite was no exception, even though  it is decently dark enough for some astrophotography, . There was a streetlight ablaze right next to our tent and where my telescope is setup. So i roamed around the dark and found an open spot where the Milky Way is rising, it is a good spot albeit a couple of lights on the beach contributed to the already noticeable glow on the horizon. Then low clouds rolled in, and i thought i remembered receiving an aurora alert that night. But i couldn't see any noticeable auroral activity. When i was processing the pictures and stacking them later, i saw a faint green glow on the horizon and i thought that must be the aurora after all.

 June 13 2015

The Summer Triangle

Milky Way

Nikon D7000 +Rokinon 14mm f2.8

30 secs x 11 @ iso 3200 

Stacked in Photoshop

Here is another shot with a different play in white balance. The summer triangle stars Deneb on the left, Altair on bottom right and Vega on the top at almost overhead. They are seen as the brightest stars on this plane of the Milky Way at summer. There is that faint green glow again on the bottom.

Deneb is very interesting since it is surrounded with so much nebulosity and interstellar dust as seen here on a nearby star Sad'r  http://prairiepinoyastro.blogspot.ca/2015/06/baader-uhc-s-filter-first-impressions.html.

Next stop will be Cypress Hills. Now if only the weather will cooperate.